The New York Rangers made their seemingly annual splashy move by acquiring Rick Nash, but GM Glen Sather might not be done yet. Interestingly enough, Sather told Andrew Gross that adding Nash doesn’t necessarily “eliminate the opportunity” to make other moves.

Here’s what Sather (sort of) said about the team’s interest in Shane Doan:

“That’s purely speculation at this point in time,” Sather said. “(This trade) doesn’t eliminate the opportunity to pursue anybody else at this time. I think that’s all I can tell you at this time.”

He denied the notion that Marian Gaborik‘s injury factored into the decision.

“That wasn’t the reason we made a trade for Nash,” Sather said. “He’s a great goal scorer. He has the right attitude about playing in New York. I just think it was a deal we couldn’t turn down.”

Sather also called the money exchanged in the deal “a wash,” noting that Artem Anisimov might be in line for “a big raise.” Here are Sather’s overall thoughts on the deal:

“He’ll help us immensely,” Sather said. “I’m sure it was difficult for Scott [Howson] to make the decision to trade him as it was for us to trade the players we did. I think it’s a fair trade for both sides.”

” I think it’s a fair trade for both sides” he said grinning ear to ear.

polishblue - Jul 23, 2012 at 7:53 PM

bring in Dominic Moore to replace dubi or artie

polishblue - Jul 24, 2012 at 2:37 PM

no? to all the “thumbs down” id like to hear why…

he would come in at a cheap price and pretty much replace anisimovs role on the team (2-way forward who can sometime put the puck in the net too)

is it cuz your not trying to take a roster spot from a young player? which young player though? Miller could use more time, Thomas as well…i guess it depends on camp but still, Moore would not hurt the team

Think of it like this. Columbus HAD to trade Nash. Some Columbus fans liked to pretend keeping him next year was an option, but it wasn’t. The guy wanted out, and they pay him too much to have him play unhappy. It would have been a waste of money, and caused a horrible atmosphere in the locker room.

However, no teams that were on Nash’s list seemed willing to offer much for him. Detroit is rumored to have made a big offer, but Columbus wouldn’t work with them. Yet they still had to deal Nash, and get something in return. Enter the Rangers, who gave them two solid NHL forwards, a top defense prospect, and a 1st round pick.

Thats might not seem overly fair on paper, but theres more to consider then just the paper. The Rangers allowed Columbus to solve a huge problem and gave them assets to help with their rebuild. Nash also has some question marks that hurt his value, such as virtualy no playoff experience and a decline in production over the last 4 years. Lets also not forget the joke of a cap hit Nash comes with. Its not all roses and 40 goal seasons with Nash.

I’m not saying Columbus got a great deal here, but when you look at all the variables its no nearly as uneven as people think it is. Sure it favors the Rangers, but Columbus accomplished quite a bit with this trade.

It’s official. Howson is the Al Davis of the NHL. This trade is one of the worst I’ve seen in any professional sport over the past few years.

The bigger question is what made Sather think that offer would over pass? That was quite the low ball to offer to a guy who was shooting for the stars. He probably convinced him they were better than stats show.

“yea Duby had an off year. He’ll be back to 25+ goals next year no doubt. And Anisimov is really a top line guy we just hid him in the weeds.”

Thinking about it, I’m not really sure what other big moves the Rangers could make. Its not that they don’t have cap space since Cap Geek says they have $13.4 million in free space. One would think they will use some of that to re-sign Del Zotto now that the Rick Nash sideshow is over, but they should still have $7-8 million left afterwards.

However, what are they going to spend it on? They already have seven legit top-six forwards when Gaborik is healthy, and when Del Zotto is re-signed they have an iron clad top four on defense. They could perhaps use a solid 3rd line defensemen as that was a weak spot for them in the playoffs… but thats about it.

ray2013 - Jul 24, 2012 at 5:03 AM

With the cap space, they could probably add some players to fill the holes in the lineups created by injuries, since they happen to every team every season.

DED - Jul 24, 2012 at 9:14 AM

They can work out a deal with RFA defenseman Anton Stralman.

stakex - Jul 24, 2012 at 10:16 AM

Yeah, but Anton Stralman isn’t going to get a huge deal. Even after he and Del Zotto are signed the Rangers are still going to have a decent amount of cap space.

I’m just pointing out that there seems to be quite a bit of talk that the Rangers might get Doan or someone like that, but there really isn’t a place on the team for him now.

Dominic Moore had his shot in NY. proved he couldn’t cut it. More than Doan, we need a legit 3rd pair defenseman…without some experience and consistency on that 3rd pair, it doesn’t matter who we bring in up front. Stu Bickel is not legit…cannot skate or handle the Puck.